GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, slammed Azealia Amanda banks shortly after the rapper hurled a gay slur at openly-gay celebrity blogger Perez Hilton on Twitter. The incident, which began in a more amiable manner, quickly turned ugly when Banks attacked Hilton’s sexuality.

Banks attacked Hilton after the celebrity blogger got involved in a Twitter feud over whether people that haven’t lived their entire lives in NYC can be called New Yorkers. Hilton took rapper Angel Haze’s point of view and things started to spiral out of control.

“@PerezHilton does your butthole whistle?” Banks asked the blogger, who runs one of the sassiest websites in Hollywood. “Like is your butthole so stretched and raggedy the air whistles when you move?”

Hilton responded with a softball, saving his more potent attacks for later.

“@AZEALIABANKS Some of your music is cute, but your attention-seeking ways are pathetic and hurtful,” Hilton tweeted. “You drag while others choose to uplift!”

“@PerezHilton you need to quit it,” Banks fired back.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

“@AZEALIABANKS Or what, boo?” Hilton said. “I’m a drop a diss track about you right after I poo! Oops, just shat myself with my gigantic hole! Feels good.”

“@PerezHilton omg u should just kill yourself … Like for real,” Banks tweeted.

That’s when Banks dropped the other f-word, fueling a firestorm of criticism from the gay community.

“@perezhilton lol what a messy faggot you are,” she wrote.

Perhaps feeling like she needed to explain her use of the other f-word, Banks tried to put her comment into context, an effort that dragged her even deeper into controversy.

“A faggot is not a homosexual male. A faggot is any male who acts like a female. There’s a BIG difference.”

Matt Kane, Associate Director of Entertainment Media at GLAAD, questioned Banks’ definition of the word faggot.

“Banks’ claim that the word “fa**ot” doesn’t mean a gay male is not true.  Regardless of her intent or her personal definition, what matters is the meaning given to that word by those who hear it, and the damage it causes when they do. Undoubtedly there are gay kids who follow her on Twitter who hear this word in an entirely different context. This word is used almost universally by bullies, often as part of a larger verbal or physical assault. This word hurts those kids, no matter what Banks meant by it,” he wrote in a blog post for GLAAD.

Unfortunately, the use of the word “faggot” on Twitter is pervasive.

A study conducted by The Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS) at the University of Alberta notes that the word “faggot” can be found on Twitter nearly one million times per month or an average of 10 million times per year.

“We never imagined the scale of casual homophobia that actually exists on social media,” said Dr. Kristopher Wells, Associate Director for iSMSS, according to Think Progress. “The use of homophobic language remains one of the few socially acceptable forms of discrimination in our society and make no mistake, leads to isolation, bullying, beatings, and tragically youth suicide. […] Our use of casual homophobia must end. We are all responsible to put a stop to it. The lives of our youth, and the humanity of our society depends upon it.”

However, GLAAD hasn’t always been critical of Banks. The organization said that Banks was one of the “Notable Coming Out Stories of 2012.”

Did Azealia Amanda Banks cross the line when she hurled a gay slur at Perez Hilton? What does the word “faggot” mean to you? Is its use justified in any context? Sound off in the comments section.